Contents

Genre

Sum it up in a Sentence:

The epic tale of an ambitious military genius, Reinhard von Müsel, seeking to conquer the galaxy through martial and political power, leading him against the own empire he serves as well as the Republic of Free Planets that it wars against, as well as the equally skilled Yang Wenli on the other side.

Main Description

The story is staged in the distant future within our own Milky Way Galaxy, approximately in the 35th century. Unlike other science fiction stories, there are no alien civilizations. A portion of the galaxy is filled with terraformed worlds inhabited by interstellar traveling human beings. For 150 years two mighty space powers have intermittently warred with each other: the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.

Within the Galactic Empire, based on 19th century Prussia, an ambitious military genius, Reinhard von Müsel, is rising to power. He is driven by the desire to free his sister Annerose, who was taken by the Kaiser as a concubine. Later, he wants not only to end the corrupt Goldenbaum dynasty but also to defeat the Free Planets Alliance and to unify the whole galaxy under his rule.

In the Free Planets Alliance Star Fleet is another genius, Yang Wen-li. He originally aspired to become a historian, and joined the military only because he needed money for tuition. He was rapidly promoted to an admiral because of his demonstrated excellence in military strategy. He becomes the archrival of Reinhard, though they highly respect one another.

As a historian, Yang often narrates the rich history of his world and comments on it. One of his famous quotes is: "There are few wars between good and evil; most are between one good and another good."

Besides the two main heroes, the story is full of vivid characters and intricate politics. All types of characters, from high nobility, admirals and politicians, to common soldiers and farmers, are interwoven into the story. There is a third neutral power nominally attached to the Galactic Empire called the Phezzan Dominion, a planet-state (city-state on a galactic scale) which trades with both warring powers. There is also a Terraism cult, which claims that humans should go back to Earth, gaining popularity throughout the galaxy. The story frequently switches away from the main heroes to the Unknown Soldier fighting for his life on the battlefield.

If You Liked This, You Might Like...

Crest of the Stars - Probably one of anime's only other worthwhile forays into the space opera genre. Expect a drastically scaled down cast from LOGH, a bit less information on the political side of things, but a whole lot more character development in exchange.

Personal Opinions

<Zorak>

LOGH, wow. To put in simple words is sort of hard. It is one of the most serious anime ever; a complex space opera slash political drama of immense scope. There's none of the commonly seen anime elements of weird hair, silly characters, sweat drops, or even blatant fanservice. It's to the point, conservative, and intensely focused on the story it wants to tell, and the characters it wants to portray. It really is one of the best anime ever, and everyone REALLY should watch it. It has great characters, simply well amazingly written, as well as a vocal cast that covers basically every big name of the day (including many modern big namers that got their start really with it). It's unlicensed, and will probably never will be, so go download it. Right now. All 110 episodes. And start watching. You'll get pulled in.

10/10 Epic. This is what Space Opera should be, realistic and lasers that obey the speed of light. If you haven't seen this, you're depriving yourself.

jonjonaug

Pretty much the best anime out there. LOGH combines an amazingly intricate plot, good animation, a stellar soundtrack made up of classical music, fascinating and entertaining characters, and an insanely detailed setting (several episodes are entirely about the fictional history of the show) to make one of the best stories ever told. Everyone should watch this.

AnonSubHuman

Young man, do you have a girlfriend?

I can't say very much about this show that hasn't already been said. One thing you will notice watching the whole series, is a variety of engagements. It's not just space battles with laser beams. Several named characters regularly engage in bloody axe battles with space age armor suits. I like how often plot threads in one side of the galaxy will ripple to the other end.